3 Strikes
3 Strikes is the pricing game with a baseball-like setup played for very expensive cars. Gameplay *In the game's current standard format, the contestant is shown eight discs, five of which have a unique digit representing one of the five numbers in the price of the car, and three red discs that each have an X, called a strike. The discs are placed into a bag and shuffled. *The contestant blindly draws a disc from the bag. If they pick a number, they must decide in which position (spot) that digit belongs (e.g.: "the third digit"). If they are correct, the disc is discarded into a slot in the game board and the digit is lit up in the price display. If they are incorrect, it was not a strike. The disc gets returned to the bag and the contestant draws again. If the contestant draws a strike, a strike marker is lit on the board and the disc is discarded into the slot if 3 strikes discs were in play or it'll get put back into the bag whenever there was only 1. *The contestant may continue to draw as many times as possible until he or she either correctly positions each digit in the price and wins the car or draws the three strikes and loses the game. History *3 Strikes debuted on February 12, 1976 (#1084D). Through the early 1990s, the game was played using both four- and five-digit cars. Except for the first few times it was done, when five-digit cars were offered, the game was known as "3 Strikes +". Even though four-digit cars were no longer used in the game after June 17, 1993 (#8874D), it retained the "3 Strikes +" name until February 10, 1994 (#9074D) (although the + sign was absent on January 27, 1994, #9054D). *On March 12, 1986 (#6033D), history was made when a contestant named Heather Nelson not only won the car, but drew every single number in the price in order without drawing a strike. She won a Chevrolet Corvette priced at $30,789. *There were at least three other known occurrences where a contestant lit up all the numbers without drawing a strike: on June 2, 1999 (#1153K); January 21, 2002 (#2031K); and May 24, 2005 (#3292K). On the second occurrence, the contestant won the car with only six draws (making only one mistake) and not drawing the strike even once. On the third, the contestant made a mistake on her first three draws but managed to get five consecutive draws right without drawing a strike. *This game was played for the most valuable prize in the history of the daytime version of The Price is Right on April 24, 2013 (#6323K, aired out of order on April 25) as part of the 2013 "Big Money Week": a Ferrari 458 Spider worth $285,716. For the gameplay, all six windows hid the numbers of the price and a new dollar sign light was added to the outside of the first window. Unfortunately, not only did Therese Cook, the contestant who played 3 Strikes for the Ferrari, not win, but she didn't even get a single number right, either. The playing attracted a large amount of criticism and backlash from many TPiR fans, many of whom said that it was too hard to guess the price with 6 numbers and 3 strikes in the bag. Nearly all who have criticized this decision insisted that Golden Road would have been a better game for the Ferrari, despite the fact that there was the chance that the contestant would not have made it to the end. *The 6-digit 3 Strikes was played again on November 18, 2013 (#6501K, aired out of order on November 22) as part of "Dream Car Week"; the contestant got four out of six right before drawing three strikes; the car was a $146,923 Audi R8 Quattro. Unlike the last playing, this playing was more well-received by fans due to the fact that the price of the Audi R8 was easier to figure out than that of the Ferrari 458, but the contestant still lost regardless. *The 6-digit 3 Strikes was played a third time on May 15, 2017 (#7941K), on Season 45's Dream Car Week, with only two of the six digits lit up before the game was lost. *Over time the props used in this game have had additional references to baseball added to them. Three baseballs on the game prop were added on November 9, 1982 (#4662D) and the current bag from which chips are drawn was made to look like a baseball on January 16, 1990 (#7502D). The baseball "NO" graphic (used when the contestant guesses a position incorrectly) was only used from 1998 through 2002, replacing a prior graphic consisting of "NO" inside a black circle that was used from 1986 until 1998; originally, only a buzzer was used. The Davidson version used a different graphic for this situation, which showed a red outline of the selected number window melting off the board and falling to the floor. From 2002 to 2008, the "NO" graphic was simply the word "NO" in large red letters. The current graphic is simply the word "NO" on a large red circle with a slash drawn through it (similar to the "No Smoking" sign). Also, from the game's debut until October 7, 2002 (#2551K), the camera would zoom in on the selected rectangle when a contestant made a guess as to the position of the drawn digit. *In addition to the changes mentioned above, the 3 Strikes sign went from green to gold by June 24, 1980 (#3742D). By April 11, 1994 (#9161D), the dollar sign tacked onto the side of the board was replaced by a window with a dollar sign, initially using the Pricedown dollar sign before changing it to the same font used as the numbers soon after; an exception was the April 18, 1994 (#9161D) show, which still used the gold Pricedown dollar sign, since the show was taped out of order. *In Fall 1993, two of the game's digits were updated. The number "2" was updated to have its lower left slant turn into a skinnier curve and its "tail" on the bottom right became flat. The original "2" was still being used on October 21 (#8934D) and the new number was in place by November 9 (#8962D). While it is known that the October 28 (#8944D) episode has a 3 Strikes + playing with a 2 in the car's price, it does not circulate. The number "5" was also updated to have a flatter top, with a pointed edge on the middle left side, a plumper curve from the middle right to the bottom, and a pointed curve on the bottom left. *The game was played four times on the primetime version of the show. Its first primetime playing was in May 17, 2002 (#001SP). It was won twice and was lost twice. *The most expensive car ever won on this game occurred on October 13, 2016 (#7644K) - a $63,000+ Cadillac CT6. The car was won with a total of 16 draws. It was also the first time a 5-digit priced car in the $60,000 range was ever offered on the game (though there were two cars over $100,000 offered on two separate occasions in 2013). *The game is currently in a losing streak, with the most recent win happening on October 13, 2016 (#7644K). Rule changes *When the game premiered in 1976, cars only had four digits in the price, and therefore a contestant was given four numbered chips and three strike chips. As the prices of cars increased past $10,000, no changes were made to the game to accommodate the extra fifth numeric chip until Season 26. *From the game's debut until 1998 (Season 26), three strike chips were placed into the bag at the start of the game. If a contestant drew a strike, a marker was lit on the board and that strike chip was discarded from the bag. However, in 1998, to increase the game's win rate (which had decreased because of the extra fifth digit from using cars priced above $10,000), the rules were changed to place only one strike chip in the bag. If the strike was drawn, it was returned to the bag; the contestant lost if he or she drew it three times. *From 1993 through 2008, the game was almost exclusively played for cars between $30,000 - $60,000. However, due to the game generally taking longer to play than other pricing games, a rule change was implemented at the beginning of Season 37 on September 23, 2008 (#4432K). The second time the game was played that season, three strike chips were used and the first number was provided for free. The number of strike chips placed into the bag then reverted back to one after this single playing; however, the contestant was still given the first digit in the car's price at the start of the game. With this change, the game began offering cars with prices along the lines of those played for in the "standard" car games, instead of using luxury cars, then got taken out of the rotation on October 29, 2008 (#4483K, aired out of order on October 15). These drastic changes only lasted for one season; when the game was first played in Season 38 on October 23, 2009 (#4875K), the game reverted to its pre-1998 rules (five numbered chips, three strike chips, no free numbers), and once again offered cars between $30,000 - $60,000. Nighttime appearances *3 Strikes was one of five pricing games introduced in the fifth and final nighttime season hosted by Dennis James on episode #158N – the other four being Cliff Hangers, Danger Price, Dice Game, and Hurdles on episodes #157N for both Cliff Hangers and Danger Price, and the latter two premiered on episodes #159N, and #160N, respectively. *On The New Price is Right, the first digit in the price was given for free and there were only four number chips in the bag. Other than the aforementioned graphics change outlined above, the game otherwise remained the same. *3 Strikes first appeared on a primetime Barker-era episode on May 17, 2002 (#001SP), during the Price is Right Salutes series of specials. Suspected cheaters *On February 28, 1992 (#8325D), a contestant named Toni Quinones had two chips remaining in the bag, a strike and the last number. She partially drew a chip out of the bag, then quickly put it back in before anyone else could see what it was. A few seconds later, Toni drew the number and won. Although the show's staff has never publicly accused the contestant of cheating, 3 Strikes + was not played again for the remainder of the season. Toni won a Porsche worth $45,789, and then won $11,000 on the wheel and the showcase for a total of almost $80,000. To watch the full video footage, click on the video link below. *Toni wasn't the only contestant who attempted to cheat, as another contestant also attempted to cheat on October 7, 1988 (#6975D). As she began to pull the third strike out of the bag, she put it back, thinking no one noticed. Bob Barker did notice and chided her for her actions. She pulled the third strike all the way out of the bag on a later draw and subsequently lost the game. *For these reasons, by January 16, 1990 (#7502D), a new baseball-shaped bag that was harder to peek into was made for the game to further prevent such cheating. Later in Season 20, on March 23, 1992 (#8361D), the three strike chips were repainted white with a red X to more closely resemble the numeric chips, but were reverted back to the red chips with the black X at the start of Season 21 on September 14, 1992 (#8491D). During this time as well, 3 Strikes + was pulled from the pricing game rotation until Season 21, leaving only 4-digit 3 Strikes. Trivia *On The Price is Right Decades video game, when the game was loading a trivia fact appears and read that 3 Strikes premiered either on February 11 or 12 of 1976. According to the stats at www.tpirstats.com, it didn't premiere on February 11 (#1803D) but on February 12, 1976 (#1804D). *3 Strikes is one of only a very small number of pricing games that a contestant can know the price of the car and still lose. In fact, even with perfect play, the odds of winning under the five digits, three strikes in the bag rules are only 3-in-8, or 37.5%. This corresponds to the odds of drawing all five digits before all three strikes or, in simpler terms, the odds that one of the three strikes would be the last chip pulled out of the bag of eight if the player continued to draw until the bag was empty. *This pricing game normally cannot have any repeating numbers of an expensive automobile for this game, but on May 15, 2017 (#7941K), the first aired day of Dream Car Week 2017, this no-repeating-digits rule was actually broken for the first time in daytime, with TWO chips that had the number 1 on them. It was also only the third time in Price Is Right history that the game was played for a 6-digit car, this time a BMW i8 Protonic Red Edition worth $159,081. Unfortunately, only one of the two 1s were placed correctly (first spot) and only two chips overall were placed correctly (the other correctly placed chip was the 9 in the third spot). *Starting with season 29 and onward, the game was played less than 10 times. *3 Strikes is the first pricing game to reference baseball; the other two are Squeeze Play and Triple Play. Pictures Screenshots 3 Strikes 1a.jpg|3 Strikes from 1977. Notice the green letters at the top. 3 Strikes 1b.jpg|Later, the words would be converted to gold. TPIR 01.PNG|From 1989, when four-and-five digit cars were offered in tandem. Note the 3 baseballs added to the board. Since they are playing for a five-digit car here, the game is known as "3 Strikes +", the "+" referring to the extra digit. 3 Strikes 2a.jpg|Five-digit 3 Strikes in 1996 (this time without the "+"). Note the window with the dollar sign, and the baseball-shaped bag that holds the chips. 3 Strikes 2b.jpg|The completed price TPIR 02.PNG|This is what 3 Strikes looks like today. Screenshot (9).png|Here's the board set up to show 6 digits, to play for a Ferrari Spider. To accommodate, the dollar sign was moved to the left of the board. This marked the first time since it became a permanent five digit car game that a live dollar sign sticks on the left side of the board. As stated above, the contestant who played for this car struck out without getting one number right. Even worse, had she won, she would've had to pay a ton of taxes on that car! CarWinner.jpg|William won this car playing this game. Strikes.jpg 3_Strikes_Numbers.png 3_Strikes_Bag.png NO Signs 80s.jpg|The Old "NO" Sign used from September 12, 1986 (#6175D) to October 12, 1998 (#0851K). 3 Strikes No 1998.jpg|A slightly altered version of the original graphic, this only lasted for three episodes from October 27, 1998 (#0872K) to November 17, 1998 (#0902K). TPIR 05.PNG|The baseball "NO" Sign introduced on December 2, 1998 (#0923K). Notice the "NO" sign is in pink letters. 3_Strikes_No_Logo_2002.png|The second baseball "NO" Sign that debuted on January 21, 2002 (#2031K). 3_Strikes_No_Logo_2002-2003.png|The third baseball "NO" Sign that debuted later in Season 30. 3_Strikes_No_Logo_2003-2004.png|The "NO" Sign from October 7, 2002 (#2251K)-circa. 2004. TPIR 04.PNG|The "NO" Sign circa 2004-October 29 (4483K, aired out of order October 15), 2008. 3xsno.jpg|The "NO" Sign introduced in Season 38 on October 23, 2009 (#4875K). 3_Strikes_No_Logo_2008-2011.png|The "NO" Sign later in 2009-February 18, 2011 (#5445K). Similar to the previous picture without the green glow. TPIR 03.PNG|The "NO" sign introduced since April 22, 2011 (#5535K). Backdrop Setups tpir___3_strikes__1970__s__by_neilrocks87-d5711au.png tpir___3_strikes__1980__s_90__s__by_neilrocks87-d57133q.png tpir___3_strikes___by_neilrocks87-d5714hj.png tpir___3_strikes__concept__by_neilrocks87-d5716h4.png tpir___3_strikes__1994_present__by_neilrocks87-d5715r3.png 10494623_270375729826631_311349501480078128_n_zps54b779f5.jpg~original.jpeg Halfoff2018-2.jpg|pr International versions of 3 Strikes *Most international versions do not have a baseball motif. *On the Mexican version, the game was played with three strikes in the bag throughout the entire run. *In the UK, 3 Strikes was played for a three-digit prize on the Leslie Crowther version; one strike was placed in the bag. The Bruce Forsyth version had this game as well, played for a four-digit car and originally with three strikes in the bag; the one strike in the bag rule was later adopted in this version in 1999. *On the French version, it was called "La Main dans le Sac" ("The Hand in the Bag") as baseball isn't part of French culture, and it played with four digits. A prize, sometimes a car with a child safety seat included, was played with three Xs in the bag. In games where a car with child seat was included, the player tried to light up the price of the seat and not the car itself. *On the Portuguese version, called "Tres Veses" or "3 XXX", it was played for a four-digit prize. Three strikes were put into the bag. *On the Dutch version, it was played for a four-digit prize, usually a trip. *On the Chinese version, it was played for a four-digit prize. YouTube Videos Heather's Perfect 3 Strikes+ (March 12, 1986, #6033D) (Season 14) Toni wins the Porsche (February 28, 1992, #8325D) (Season 20) Debra wins 3 Strikes (December 1, 1992, #8602D) (Season 21) 3 Strikes win for a corvette (October 15, 1996, #0092K) (Season 25) A little faith in the 3 Strikes game (February 11, 1997, #0252K) (Another Season 25) A Long Playing of 3 Strikes (December 2, 1998, #0923K) (Season 27) A Great Win of 3 Strikes (December 22, 1999, #1313K) (Season 28) 3 Strikes for a corvette on a $1,000,000 Spectacular (February 5, 2003, #007SP, aired out of order on February 7, originally rescheduled to air on February 19) Adam wins the 3 Strikes game (December 17, 2003, #2723K) (Season 32) Perfect Bid & a 3 Strikes Win (October 13, 2004, #3003K) (Season 33) Stephanie wins the 3 Strikes game (November 16, 2005, #3413K) (Season 34) A near perfect 3 Strikes playing (September 18, 2006, #3681K) (Season 35) Marine Firefighter wins 3 Strikes (February 12, 2007, #3881K) (Another Season 35) John Madden wins 3 Strikes (December 3, 2007, #4111K, aired out or order on November 12) (Season 36) A 3 Strikes Win from 2011 (February 18, 2011, #5445K) (First Season 39) 3 Strikes Win from Earth Day 2011 (April 22, 2011, #5535K) (Second Season 39) Another 3 Strikes Win from 2011 (June 3, 2011, #5595K) (Third Season 39) The first six-digits price car playing 3 Strikes (April 24, 2013, #6323K, aired out of order on April 25) Only 3 Strikes winner from Season 41 (April 29, 2013, #6331K, aired out of order on March 18) (Season 41) Only 3 Strikes win from Season 42 (November 5, 2013, #6482K) (Season 42) The second six-digits price car playing 3 Strikes (November 18, 2013, #6501K, aired out of order on November 22) A Painful 3 Strikes from Season 42 (June 9, 2014, #6781K, aired out of order on June 2) A Christmas Miracle from Season 43 (December 23, 2014, #6932K, aired out of order on December 22) (Season 43) A 3 Strikes Win from Season 44 (September 30, 2015, #7223K, aired out of order on September 28) (Season 44) Epic 2 strike battle and biggest win of 3 Strikes (October 13, 2016, #7644K) (Season 45) Category:Pricing Games Category:Active Games Category:Car Games Category:1970s Pricing Games Category:OK to be Wrong Category:You Can Try Again Category:The Player is in Command Category:Center Stage Pricing Games Category:Multiple Choice Games Category:Primetime Pricing Games Category:Predict the Correct Price Category:Can Be Finished Immediately Category:Instant Winning Pricing Games Category:Long Play Category:Increasing Difficulty Category:Decreasing Difficulty Category:Hard Winning Pricing Games Category:"T" Pricing Games Category:2-Word Pricing Games Category:February Pricing Games Category:Dream Car Week Pricing Games